IAIS Issue Paper in Regulation and Supervision of Microinsurance

This Issue Paper was prepared by the IAIS-CGAP Joint Working Group on Microinsurance in consultation with IAIS Members and Observers and the CGAP Working Group on Microinsurance.

This paper identifies issues and challenges in developing an enabling regulatory framework for promoting microinsurance in line with the IAIS Insurance Core Principles (ICPs). It draws upon the practical experience of: insurance supervisors with decades of experience in standard setting, standard implementation and supervision of insurance institutions; and microinsurance experts having a long track record in insurance and pro-poor financial systems development.

The primary audience of this paper are insurance supervisors, particularly IAIS members in developing countries, who are responsible for supervising entities licensed under insurance laws. Consequently, the impact of the social welfare system on microinsurance is not discussed in this paper since it is considered to be an issue to be dealt with by policymakers in individual jurisdictions rather than by insurance supervisors.